Summer ailments on the rise in twin cities

With the increasing day temperatures, cases of gastric-related ailments in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi have also been on the rise.
Doctors have reported a sudden spurt of patients coming in with ailments such as gastroenteritis, jaundice and diarrhoea.
“There has definitely been a rise in people coming in for stomach ailments in the past few days. About five to seven persons come to OPD daily while at least two patients are admitted daily for gastric problems,” Dr Athar at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences told APP.
Civil hospitals too have been seeing many admissions in the OPD department for gastric ailments. PIMS, Polyclinic and Al-Shifa hospitals have been seeing more than 20 such patients coming in daily.
“A rise of at least five per cent of cases has been seen for stomach problems in the past couple of weeks. Children are the most common patients in these cases as their immunity level is already low,” Dr Ajmal, Kidney specialist at Polyclinic told APP.
The PIMS spokesperson said that most of gastroenteritis patients who had been brought to the hospital were from Islamabad and its affiliated rural areas.
He said the major reasons for gastro-diseases included use of substandard fruits and other edibles being sold on streets. Doctors have attributed the increasing number of cases to the risingtemperatures and use of unhygienic food.
“Food tends to get spoiled faster because of the heat in summer. People need to exercise extreme caution in what they eat and drink. At home, food should be preserved properly.
In case of signs of stomach infections, prompt treatment must be taken to avoid aggravation of the infection.
Measures to alleviate leprosy patients’ sufferings urged: Health experts have stressed awareness among public on treatment and prevention of disease leprosy to alleviate the sufferings of patients.
According to them, it is a high time to encourage the flow of funds, which are imperative to take the cause of leprosy eradication from the country.
They said in Pakistan leprosy control activities are being supported and sponsored by many government and non-governmental organizations for more than 40 years. They said since the first effort to fight leprosy millions of people have been cured in 82 countries of the world. They added this has been made possible due to the commitment of 14 members of the International Federation of Anti Leprosy Association and WorldHealth Organization (WHO).
They said leprosy is common in the poorer regions of the world. India is home to nearly 70 percent of the leprosy cases in the world, they added. They pointed out leprosy is caused by a slow-growing bacillus, mycobacterium leprae. It is transmitted via droplets from the nose and mouth of untreated patients with severe disease.
They said if left untreated, the disease can cause nerve damage, leading to muscle weakness and atrophy, and permanent disabilities. They said leprosy can be easily treated with a 6-12-monthcourse of multi-drug therapy. The treatment is highly effective and has few side effects and low relapse rates and there is no known drug resistance.
They said leprosy is a chronic and contagious disease. The initial symptoms of the disease show up as light, painless patches on the skin, adding often, the lack of sensation in the area may cause the patient to completely neglect the initial symptoms, they added.